A New Kind of Life
by kalsemiko
Summary: Ed stared at the group, and stared some more. "This has to be a joke, right?" Ed blurted out. Silence. "Fine. But I am so not wearing the cape with the pink clouds on it." Maybe he made the wrong decision but the only thing that mattered was to finish his job. This world's problems didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was getting back home.
1. Chapter 1

_**Hello! I did some editing and getting this story back on track! So...I hope you like the small changes. sorry about the delay, feel free to scream at me through reviews :). **_

_**Really, I am sorry for the late update. No excuse except for no motivation and laziness. But I'll try harder, promise.  
**_

_**Do not own anything.  
**_

* * *

Ed woke to the sun beating down on him, and the feeling of hot sand on his skin. Breathing through his nose, he found it hard to breathe in the suffocating heat.

Slowly opening his eyes, Ed weakly lifted his arm to cover them. Sweat rolled down his face, and he licked his lips, only to have his throat constrict and thirst for water.

Rolling over Ed pushed off of the ground with his hands, the heat of the sand burning them, and he yelped as he staggered back, almost falling over.

Ignoring his burning hands, Ed's eyes rose to the horizon, and then to the sky where the sun was beating down on him. He couldn't see any form of life, only sand and dirt.

Stepping in one direction, Ed suddenly dropped to his knees.

_It hurt….everything hurt so much._

_I deserve it. _

Ed stopped the direction of his thoughts; it wouldn't do any good now to brood over it.

He didn't even question where he was, not right now, and not until he found some form of shelter.

_Or civilization. _

He once again rose; it was too late to go back now, and walked forwards, not looking back.

* * *

Temari huffed irritably; Gaara had some nerve sending her on a scouting mission when she should be helping fight off the Akatsuki… like Kankuro.

The thought of Gaara choosing him over her, set her teeth on edge.

Kankuro was probably going to rub it in when he got back, all smug about it and hopefully Gaara would do something about it for once—he seemed to never get in between their arguments.

She sighed; maybe she would find something interesting for once. Usually nobody found anything, since there was nothing out there—only a wasteland.

Temari looked into the distance, searching for threats or anything unusual, but everything looked the same—it was peaceful and still hot. She made to turn back to report but froze as she caught of a figure in the distance, barely moving.

It was red, standing out in the deserted landscape and moved at such a sluggish pace that Temari though it could have been a strange deformed animal.

But as the thing suddenly fell to the floor, in a very human fashion, Temari set off.

Getting there in minutes, she approached it him/her with caution.

This could be a trap but as she shook him, the child—teen— made no movement.

She carefully turned him over, gasping at the sight of him, torn clothes, covered with blood and many wounds littered upon his body.

There was no time, she had to get him to a medical ninja, and by the looks of those wounds he was on the verge of being dead.

It didn't occur to her that this male; this small teen could have been a danger to her and the village.

The thought never crossed her mind.

* * *

Gaara wasn't pleased, you could tell by the way his clasped hands were behind his back and the way he stood silent before answering.

Temari shifted nervously, she didn't regret saving the boy but there was trouble brewing everywhere and Gaara wasn't very trusting anymore. Nor very patient.

This was the closest Gaara got to showing any emotion, well around her anyways, but she wondered if he ever let his guard down around anyone.

"Do you know what village he came from?"

Temari shook her head in answer, and Gaara observed her with blank eyes.

"Do you even know his name?" Bored. Gaara sounded bored, but Temari knew better than that.

Gaara could feel and show emotions, he just had a harder time doing it than anyone else.

Temari gave a quiet no in response, and Gaara beckoned over one of his guards, "then, we will move him to the cells…"

Temari gave a cry of protest, "….until we know he is not an enemy or a danger to the sand."

Temari nodded and turned, thinking she was dismissed, but Gaara's voice froze her footsteps.

"If there is a next time, do not bring them here, or they will be killed on sight. Injured or not."

Temari's heart stopped but she just shook her head, understanding that he was doing it to protect the village. This was why he was the leader.

Although sometimes, Temari wondered if Gaara would ever kill his own sister for turning against him, when she looked into his eyes, she saw a monster lurking within just waiting to pounce. Or maybe just a lonely child that had never been understood.

She guessed she would never know.

* * *

_Brother….don't do it._

_A sad smile, 'what are you talking about Al?'_

_Al gave a small frown, knowing that Ed knew what he was talking about but just wanted to avoid it._

'_The deal Truth offered you.'_

_Ed's eyes sharply turned to him, '…there wasn't a deal…' Just Demands and orders._

_Al sat next to him, his voice echoing in the metallic suit, 'it isn't worth it,'_

_Ed's fists clenched and he grit his teeth, snarling, 'don't ever say that again Alphonse, you're worth everything!'_

_If Al could, he would have given a sad smile, 'but not you, you are not worth me, not even a finger.'_

_Ed ran his fingers through his golden hair, sighing with frustration, 'fine…..just go to sleep, tomorrow's a big day.'_

_Al knew though that the subject wasn't won or dropped but instead complied with his brother's wish, lying on the bed but not sleeping….he wasn't able to, but he could drift in his conscious and replay memories._

_Ed waited until he was sure Al wouldn't notice his movements before dropping a letter onto the drawer beside him. _

_One had already been sent to Mustang and Winry. _

_Al should have been already fifteen but still was stuck in that form, even after they had defeated Father. He had been able to live in his body for a couple minutes before it degenerated and Ed bounded his soul back to the armor._

_That must have been traumatic; to have the thing you had wanted for so long to only have it snatched away in seconds. _

_Alphonse's mind stayed that of a ten year old child. It tormented Ed, to see his brother like that. _

_Pain._

_Frustration._

_Guilt._

_Now Ed was sixteen and Al was still ten._

_It wasn't fair._

_But he was going to fix it, even if the deal was a little far-fetched and shaky. As long as Truth gave his word that Al would get his body back and live a full life, he would do anything._

_Ed gave one last look at the figure on the bed before turning and disappearing into the darkness._

* * *

Ed woke to mice squeaking and batted them away with his arm before wincing at the painful movement.

All his limbs felt numb and his throat still felt like the driest a little before adjusting to the dim lighting, he looked around at the sand structured cell.

There was a feeling inside him that told him that this wasn't the friendliest of places either.

Ed sat up slowly; weary of aching limbs and some of the cuts on his skin.

Ed's head sharply turned as he sensed movement behind the sand structured bars, a surprised voice spoke out, "Wow, I didn't think you would hear something as small as me shifting."

A female. At least Ed now knew there were actually human beings on this planet. No thanks to _Truth_.

_Give the alchemist a clue and then dump him somewhere in the fucking universe!_

The thought of Truth almost sent him snarling in anger but held back. It would do no good to lose his temper now.

A cough sounded and Ed realized that his train of thought had lasted longer than a minute. An awkward silence almost ensued.

Ed stood, his legs almost shaking with the effort but managed to grab a hold of the sand bars and was surprised to find that they didn't break beneath his fingertips.

"You won't be able to break those, Gaara built them himself." The girl commented as she walked up closer, gazing at him curiously—like you might an animal.

"What's your name? What village are you from?"

Ed took in her strange outfit, along with her weird blond hairstyle and tried answering but wasn't able to utter anything but a croak.

The girl understood because she ran off somewhere only to come back seconds later with a cup of water in her hand.

She passed the glass through the bars and Ed greedily grabbed it before gulping it down. A hand clasped his wrist, moving the cup away from his mouth and the girl shook her head at him.

"You shouldn't gulp it down like that, you might get sick."

_I bet you wouldn't care if you were in the same position. _

But Ed nodded in agreement before she let go and took a step back.

"I'm Temari, you're in the hidden sand village—Suna"

Footsteps sounded from above, her eyes darted from the staircase and back to him, "what's your name?"

He heard the urgency in her voice and the sound of footsteps sounded closer. looking at her curiously Ed answered, "Edward Elric."

Temari's eyes lit up happily but her face quickly morphed into a blank expression as a group of weirdly dressed people came in.

All dressed in the same uniform—black with different designs of masks covering their face. There was only four but they stopped in formation—the leader at front and the other three behind him.

Temari anxiously looked behind them, "Where's Gaara, Hayao?"

Hayao, a man with cold black eyes and a red zigzag line crossing his mask, stepped out to answer.

"The Kazekage does not have time to deal with such a _small_ problem."

The man had instantly found Ed's weakness, and even with alarms going off in his head, Ed's anger burst.

Snarling, he asked, "Who the hell are you calling small?"

Ed couldn't see Hayao's expressions but Ed had the feeling that the man was sneering at him behind the mask. Ignoring the teen Hayao addressed Temari, "We will interrogate him and as soon as we have confirmed that he is not a threat, he will be released."

Something in the man's tone had Ed standing on edge. _What was this man's idea of an interrogation?_

Temari nodded not picking up on the double meaning before casting Ed a worried glance and leaving. Ed felt like he was left to the dogs—literally. For all he knew the people on this planet _could_ turn into dogs.

_It would be just like Truth to fuck with him like that._

Hayao showed a tiny bit of emotion, his lips turning up into a smirk and his eyes dancing with sadism.

Ed sensing the danger, squared his shoulders, raising a defiant chin and uttering out the exact words that he had said only hours ago to Truth, "_Just you fucking try me._"

* * *

_White. Pure white nothingness. _

_A hollow laugh sounded and Ed turned, already knowing who was behind him, Ed did come here of his own will….this time._

'_You have agreed, then?' _

_A nod, as Ed reassured himself that this was the only option—even if it wasn't it was the fastest and easiest. _

"_I-I just have to save this-what was his name? Sasuke?"_

_Truth nodded, "and Itachi, one cannot be without the other, just like you and your brother cannot be one without the other." _

_A step forward. "Al gets his body back?"_

_Ed needed to know that Truth would keep his side of the bargain._

_Truth smiled, "Of course." _

_There was something he was not telling, something that had Ed convinced that he should not be doing this. But as always, what was best for Al won, there was no going back now._

"_How will I find them?" There were so many questions and only few he could ask._

_Truth waved a hand, Ed's hand and Ed clenched his metal hand at the sight of it, 'They stand out, finding them will be no trouble.'_

_Ed didn't believe that, "why do I have to save them?"_

_Truth frowned, 'that world is out of balance, the planet has an eternity of energy but these two are the cause of that unbalance. There are many more but these two practice dark things, forbidden by their people.' _

_Then Truth broke out into a smile again, 'there are a couple others that are causing this imbalance like the snake and his mutant creations but hopefully if you come across them, you'll just kill them and that will be it.'_

_He makes everything sound so simple, 'just press the button and everything will go boom!' –that kind of simple, but this sounded like chasing a rabbit in the dark._

_Truth gave a coy smile, "But you may not be able to do it…."_

_Ed snarled and rose to the bait, "Just you fucking try me." _

_Truth laughed again, it made Ed boil with anger, an anger that threatened to boil over. _

"_Why can't you do it?" It was a good question and Ed had a feeling that he was somehow playing in a show for Truth's entertainment. _

_Like a puppet. _

_Truth laughed, 'you're too funny sometimes Edward, I am not able to interfere with anything beyond this realm.'_

'_We'll see about that' Ed thought, "I'm ready."_

_Truth clapped and Ed felt a breeze behind him, he wasn't using that sort of transportation was he?_

_A glance behind him confirmed it, the black tiny hands were making their way towards him, and Ed protested, "Is this really necessary?"_

_Truth nodded, smiling all the while as the hands grabbed a hold of Ed, they held on tight, forcefully dragging towards a gate that was not his own. _

_Just as the gates were closing, Ed heard Truth shout, 'Oh, I'm not sure where you're going to land but I think you'll be fine!'_

_The sudden urge to find a way to kill Truth appeared but then the hands wrapped tightly around him, speeding him through darkness until finally Ed couldn't make sense of anything and just before he passed out. A thought occurred to him._

'_Maybe I am just a puppet only with broken strings.'  
_

* * *

Ed was familiar with these kinds of interrogations; they would take you to a room, ask useless questions and then go straight to the beating.

But Hayao started the beating first, then the interrogation and then took him to a room. He was a messed up bastard.

But Ed was glad that Hayao wasn't as messed up as some other people Ed had met. Torture was not a fun thing, especially when it's done to you.

The confusing thing was— how they got his cell open? One of them, a man with a large black 'x' across his mask, pulled out some sort of scroll with strange symbols and placed it next to the wall of his cell, while shouting strange words, something that sounded like, 'humnaf kufis juju?'

Well whatever it was got the thing open, and then the wolves attacked.

Ed, of course, was not going to take the beating lying down but nor was he going to use alchemy. Not a smart thing to do in another world, one that might have a death penalty for such things.

Hayao was the first to throw a small knife aimed at a vital organ, and Ed dodged, looking at the blade embedded in the wall behind him, "what was that supp—

The blades whirled through the air, glinting and Ed just barely avoided all of them. One managed to cut his cheek open and he wasn't even in the best condition right now per say.

Ed's head whipped around to face them, flaming anger in his golden molten eyes, "_this_ is how you treat civilians?"

Hayao chuckled, "no, this is how we treat strangers that try to invade our village, who knows why you're here? To kill the Kazekage? The people? Destroy the sand village?"

"That's what _you're_ supposed to find out! What I'm doing here! Did anybody mention that I was passed out in the desert?"

Hayao spit on the floor of the cell, wiping his face afterwards, then directed a chilling glare at Ed, "it sickens me to what extent the Akatsuki will do to get to our leader, and how much did they pay you? 1oo yen? A million?"

Silence.

"Come on, how much did you get to play out this act? What is their plan?"

Ed's mouth would have been hanging open if he had been given the chance. But Hayao didn't give him a moment to speak.

Cracking his knuckles, Hayao smiled eerily, "shocked? Well it doesn't matter now. You won't see another tomorrow; after we get what we want from you, we'll toss you back out into the desert to rot."

Ed did not get a chance to defend himself, _what was with the people here jumping to conclusions?_

No jury? Trial? Just 'we found you dying in the desert…. so we have to kill you after accusing of things that you did _not_ do?'

_It's nice to be treated like one of the guests. _Ed thought sarcastically.

The next thing Ed knew was that one of them had grabbed his arms, and Ed gasped from the shocking pain. The next couple minutes were a blur, the man had hit some vital areas and Ed's vision began to blur.

Ed could make out jumbled words of something being asked of him but nothing made sense, the next few moments he spent incoherent.

The feeling of solid wood and a bright light shining in Ed's eyes made him come back to reality. The sight of another room with just a bare light bulb and a chair surprised him.

_What the—how did I get here?_

"It seems that you're a civilian, you reacted very badly with the Jutsu, now tell me _where are the Akatsuki?" _

Ed blinked, and then slammed his hands onto the metal table, "_what the fuck just happened_?"

Hayao ignored him, "we need—"

Shouting sounded behind the door interrupting Hayao. The metal door slammed open, "Hayao-san it's the Akatsuki! They're here for the Kazekage and our forces are fighting them this minute!"

"Who's out there helping them?" Hayao snarled.

The ANBU's eyes darted back and forth between Ed and his captain, confusion clear in his eyes.

"The nin from the hidden leaf village are fighting along with our forces."

The ANBU gave one more confused glance at Ed before leaving. Hayao quickly stood, knocking the chair down and with only one glance at Ed, slammed the door shut and with the click it was locked.

_Like that's going to keep me out. I may be a civilian here but I am still a dog of the military. Even if it pains me to think it. _

Explosions sounded throughout the building and Ed rethought about even leaving the room. But then Al appeared in his vision and Ed transmuted his arm into a blade. Easily making a hole through door, he kicked it open….only to find the corridor empty but explosions still shaking the structure.

Ed took a step out and had the feeling that this was it…..he felt so alone right now. Alone and confused, but Ed had to do it, he had made a deal.

_It was for Al._

_For Al._

The thought gave him courage but little comfort as the sound of fighting increased.

_Again it was for Al._

_Always._

People were running, but none paid any attention to Ed, which he was glad for. Stopping a lady to ask for the exit, which she happily pointed out, Ed made his escape.

His eyes shut close at the bright sunlight but reopened them again as explosions shook the ground.

Right now this was a war zone and he was in the middle of it. Flashbacks of the war he had just fought appeared in his mind. Replaying over and over again, making guilt well up inside of him.

_I've got to get out of here and find Sasuke. Just…just so Al can keep the body he has now. _

He scanned the area, eyes picking out figures only a couple hundred yards away, Ed could barely catch their movements as three of them fought their battle with two cloaked figures.

But reinforcements seemed to be on the way as Ed spotted several of the ANUB dashing towards the battlefield, some others were left behind guarding the village.

Thinking he shouldn't stay long, Ed swiftly made a turn, in the direction of where trees looked to be in the distance.

Out of the corner of Ed's eye, there was a glimpse of dirty blond spiked hair and a humongous fan.

_Temari._

_She was going to fight too? _

His thoughts were confirmed as she engaged in battle with one of the figures.

_Why did it take this many to only fight two?_

_Were they really that powerful?_

There were things he still did not understand in this world and it was going to take him awhile to learn everything. Including how strong everyone was and how their culture or government worked.

This wasn't his fight.

_Or was it? _

He stumbled a little, hitting a toe on a rock and cursed, clutching onto the wall for support.

_Who was the fucking bastard who kept bombing the place? I would so love to give him a piece of my mind._

Shaking his head Ed continued forward. In the distance, branches of leaves and twining trees reached towards the sky. Ed knew that was where he was supposed to be heading. It was a gut feeling.

_Although, many of my gut feelings almost killed me. _

Attention was the last thing Ed wanted. Completing this mission Truth gave him was the top priority. Even if Truth a Bastard, a top rate one.

_But to put him in a country where they were having fucking war?_

_Pure Sadism._

Ed's eye twitched when the ground shook again, keeping firm footing on the ground and making it past panicking civilians.

Nobody even glanced in his direction.

Making it past a couple buildings and shops, Ed spotted an exit but there were guards at the arch way.

Formulating a plan Ed sauntered towards them.

They cautiously watched him, unsure if this was an enemy or a friend. Ed pointed to the ongoing battle, drawing the two pair of eyes to the sight.

"The Kazekage ordered all nearby nins to help with the battle."

They did not look convinced and Ed put a little more what Al called 'gusto' into it. Ed's tone turned harsh, "are you disobeying a direct order from a superior? If he damn tells you to fight, you better hell go fight!"

They stumbled from their posts, surprised at the ordering tone of the teen and ran towards the battle. Ed gave one last glance at the village and the still ongoing battle—it seemed that their leader had now joined the battle as well.

The Kazekage—he looked only a little older than Ed did. sighing, exhaustion creeped on Ed, almost making his legs give out. Contemplating, thinking, wondering, Why was he always stuck in fighting and wars?

_Karma._

Maybe it was. Because god knows that he deserved it, if there was one.

His golden eyes scanned the forest, looking for any dangers and finding none, Ed continued on. The pain dulled to an ache at the back of his mind. This was no time to rest.

* * *

Temari almost growled at the guards, but a calming hand on her shoulder made the agitation fade.

They were supposed to _guard_ the damn village, not _leave_ their posts because a _complete stranger_ said to.

Temari was sure Gaara was going to give them kitchen duty for the next month, poor guys. _Nobody_ liked kitchen duty. That was an experience even _she_ wanted to avoid.

"Do you know his name?" Gaara asked, nothing slipping past his mask of indifference.

The guards nervously looked at each other and then shook their heads. Temari snarled at them, "Do you at least remember what he looked like?"

One of the two, Temari recalled that his name was Tasume or Tatume, stepped up, "Yes, he had blonde hair, a red coat on and he was shorter than us about a couple inches."

The guard muttered, _"midget." _

The other guard, Nasume— Temari remembered perfectly, murmured something.

"What was that Natsume?" Temari asked, getting even more agitated by the second despite the restraining hold that Gaara had on her.

"He had the most unusual eyes, not of any clan I have seen, they were golden….almost like the sun…"

An image of the teen that the ANBU had taken resurfaced in her mind, _it couldn't be…_

"Lord Kazekage!"

Hayao was running towards him, along with two other ANBU and a spark of panic within his eyes.

Stopping before Gaara, Hayao forced himself to look into his leaders eyes.

"The boy—the one that Lady Temari had brought…"

_No…_

"What about him?" Temari asked, already suspecting what had happened. Her anxious eyes darted to Gaara before landing back on Hayao, hopefully Gaara would forget about this incident.

Temari knew that somehow this would go back to her being blamed.

She could almost smell 'kitchen duty.'

Hayao, eyes burning with hatred, declared, "He's escaped. Gone."

* * *

Wanting to smash your head against the nearest tree was a sign of madness was what Ed thought. Leaning against what looked like an oak tree, Ed tried to see if there was something in sight that could give directions.

Because he was so lost and his head hurt and it pounded and pounded and his legs were wavering and he just wanted to _sleep._

Okay, maybe running from the only place that had people and civilization was not a smart thing to do. Plus, he wasn't even sure if there was anything past this forest.

Growling Ed pushed away from the tree, stumbling and then crying out as his foot got stuck in a burrow.

_Great….anything else you want to throw at me Karma?_

Hairs rose at the back of Ed's neck, the feeling of being watched arising. There was a breeze and quick as lightening there was the feeling of a cold blade underneath his throat.

Ed froze.

_How?_

The blade didn't waver but it pressed into Ed's skin, "Who are you?"

Threatening and cold, the tone of the male's voice made Ed want to shiver.

The truth stumbled out of his mouth, "Edward Elric."

_I have a feeling lying to this guy is __**not**__ the way to go._

A hum answered in response, "What village are you from?"

The man or teen, sounded suspicious, and Ed tried catching a glimpse of the figure out of his eyes. The knife pressed into his neck in warning and Ed forced his eyes forward.

"I don't belong to any village."

_Or any that I know of. _

The blade pushed against his neck, drawing a thin line of blood. There was irritating dirt sticking to his ankle and Ed could feel it going into his shoe.

Twisting a little, Ed held back a whimper as pain erupted from his ankle and radiated throughout his leg.

_Why the fuck is this happening to me? _

The feeling of defeat, of pain, of just feeling _so weak— _it made Ed's blood boil in anger.

"Get that the fuck away from me, are you crazy?" Ed snarled and was surprised to feel the blade retreating, only to have it placed behind his neck.

The thought that the blade could just pierce his skin, killing him in an instant made Ed's angry induced haze clear a little. If he died—This freaky mission would end only in one day, Al was going to lose his body and Ed would be a _failure_.

_Never._

Sweat ran down Ed's face, the small breeze doing nothing to cool him down.

_Why was it so hot here?_

Leaning forward and ignoring the threatening weapon, Ed tried pulling his leg out. Gasping in pain, Ed doubled over and blackness edged around his vision.

_My ankle. Its bending backwards. _

A hysterical laugh bubbled from Ed's throat.

_It's not as bad as some of the things you've been through Edward. Man up! _

But the heat was affecting him, a dryness invaded his throat and his stomach felt like it was trying to eat itself.

Two pairs of hands grabbed him, one holding him upright while the other tugged at Ed's ankle, once, twice before it pulled free.

_There's two of them? _

Ed reared his head back, catching a glimpse of sunflower yellow locks and blue eyes.

Twisting his head a little more, Ed saw the one that had put a blade against his throat. Dark raven hair, pale skin, and cobalt eyes.

"_You're eyes—they're dead."_

The raven haired teen—no, he looked to be in his twenties so a man—expressed surprise on his face.

_Did I say that out loud?_

_I must have._

_Why is he looking at me like that?_

Twisting away from the supporting hands of the blond, Ed crawled until he reached the tree. Leaning against it and catching his breath, Ed didn't notice the blond shooting 'a look' to the raven head.

"_Brother! Don't give up now!"_

Ed gasped, eyes erratically searching for Al.

"_Don't you want to see me?"_

Ed struggled to stand as his golden eyes searched for his brother, "Of course I would want to see you. Al, where are you?"

Logic didn't come to him. Ed didn't even question on the how or why his brother was here. Ed only wanted to see him.

"_Brother, why did you leave me? Do you hate me?"_

Ed's head quickly snapped to the blond, who had started moving closer to him.

The blond quickly put his hands up in a gesture of peace, and then just as quickly put them down when he saw Ed's horrified eyes.

"_Mouths. You have mouths in your hands."_

Ed couldn't look away from the blonde's hands and receded back as the blonde came closer.

"It's okay, I'm Deidara—it's perfectly normal, I won't hurt you. Us blondes have to stick together, you know?"

"_Brother? Why are you ignoring me?"_

Ed shook his head frantically, _"Never Al, I would never ignore you."_

Deidara, looked at his in confusion and worry, "who are you talking to?"

"_Brother! It's him! This man, he's keeping me locked up!"_

And Ed, confused and delirious questioned, "_Locked up? Why would they have you locked up Al?"_

Deidara this time took a step back, and over his shoulder said to the raven, "you're handling this Itachi, you're more used to dealing with nutcases anyways."

"_They want my soul Brother; they say I have to repent for what I did to mother."_

Itachi did not look amused but his dead eyes watched Ed in curiosity.

"_repent."_

"_sin."_

"_die."_

People shouting everywhere and Ed couldn't see where they were.

"_Why Edward? Why would you do that to your own mother? To me?"_

Ed froze at the voice, hands clenching, and throat tightening.

"_mom?"_

Itachi shook his head as Deidara muttered next to him, "psycho, see I told you, now let's go. Leader-sama is expecting a report in two days."

Deidara started walking but stopped as he noticed Itachi was not fallowing him.

"Itachi?"

Itachi did not answer but continued watching Edwards's inner struggle.

"_mom? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I missed you."_

Mocking laughter sounded and Edward shivered in distress.

"_you turned me into a monster Edward."_

Ed fell to his knees, ignoring the pain it sent throughout his body.

"_I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."_

Itachi neared to the hysterical teen, muttering I'm sorry.

"_Sorry is not enough Edward. If I'm the victim and your brother the innocent, what does that make you?"_

A hysterical sob escaped Ed. Fingers gripped into his red cape, tearing it.

"_That's right Edward. You're the true monster."_

Then Ed was screaming. Screaming until his throat was hoarse and not until the call of sweet darkness, whisked him away from the world of pain.

Itachi picked up the unconscious teen, surprised at the uneven weight and walked towards Deidara.

Deidara sighed, kicking a foot in the dirt.

"You're keeping him, aren't you?"

Itachi walked past Deidara, not a hint of emotion in his tone of voice or in his face as he declared, "Yes, I'm keeping him."

* * *

_**So? Any comments? **_


	2. Chapter 2

Hi people! This is a short chapter but I have more coming. I just got stuck on a bump and am lacking inspiration on where to go next. I know what's going to happen but I don't know what's going to happen and I can't exactly find out how to write it down.

I think I just described writers block.

Well, there's a poll on my profile about my stories if you guys want to check it out.

Plus I apologize in advance if nothing updates for a while. This week is exam week and...I don't even want to think about it.

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: Do not own**

* * *

There was darkness, it gripped him, pulled at him and suffocated him until it was useless to struggle anymore.

Sometimes he didn't even know who he was.

But the voices screaming and crying in the dark seemed to know him better than he did.

'_Monster!'_

'_FullMetal Report!'_

'_Dead. Mom's dead.'_

'_Philosopher's stone is the answer.'_

'_Brother…why do you hate me?'_

'_Edward Elric, listen to your father!'_

'_All is one, one is all.'_

They shouted, sometimes repeating themselves and the constant noise didn't help him with his own thoughts.

Edward.

Was that his name?

He didn't remember.

* * *

Someone was speaking to him, in a hushed whisper. It was clearer now, everything.

"Just take a sip, you need something or you'll just get worse."

There was a cup pressed to his lips but Ed couldn't see it only feel the tempting water lapping against his chapped lips.

He took a sip before he was practically downing the thing down.

The cup was take from his lips.

Ed whined at the loss and a comforting hand ran through his hair. It reminded Ed of his mother. Maybe this was heaven.

"Mom?"

"Shhh, just go back to sleep."

And the hand stayed there, running through his hair as Ed drifted off into sleep.

Konan replaced the wet towel from the blonde's forehead, as she rinsed it in cool water before placing it back on.

To say it surprised the members of the Akatsuki when Deidra and Itachi came back with a small package was an understatement.

But Itachi wasn't letting go of the boy anytime soon. Something in the blond must have pulled at Itachi to have affected him so much.

Deidra gave the report, adding some side comments about psychopathic blonds. Kisame not able to resist said, "That's nothing new, we've had a blonde for a very long time already what's another one going to do?"

Deidra wasn't the least bit happy and continued throwing mini bombs at Kisame throughout the day. Then when Kisame finally snapped they had a friendly battle outside.

The other members only showed only a feint interest in the blond and when they saw the teen, satisfying their curiosity and concluding that the teen was of no interest to them.

They did not understand the fascination Itachi had with the teen.

Konan silently watched the teen sleep. The teen looked at peace. But she knew better. This child held more shadows than he did light.

Konan sighed and ran a hand through the golden hair, wishing and hoping.

She had always wanted children.

* * *

_Ed could sense Truth before he heard him. It irked him, that he was so used to Truth's presence. _

"_Look who came back…"_

"_Not by choice…" Ed muttered. _

_Truth sat in front of him, toying with some marbles on the floor._

"_Ah…Yes, yes, I was afraid this would happen."_

_Truth's tone was nonchalant, Ed waited._

"_You are not used to the world they are from. Gravity has less force, the food is different even the air you breath and the sun which shines down on you, it will all affect you in some way."_

_The thoughts brewed in Ed's mind, wondering if that meant he could die._

_Truth waved a hand at him, as if reading the thought but did not look at him. The marbles had his undivided attention._

"_You will not die. Your body is just changing to get used to the world as you humans know, everything goes through evolution."_

_It didn't reassure Ed. It made him seem more of a freak than he already was. Glass clashing against each other sounded and Ed's eyes were drawn towards them._

_The beautiful colors inside them were swirling, clouds of all colors, dark and mysterious. Swirling silver and shining gold and as Ed looked deeper within…._

_The marbles were swept into Truth's hand and Ed snapped out of the trance. _

"_Do not dare to look at them longer than a second. You do not want to lose your sanity sooner than you have to." _

_Truth warned, "You will look at them forever, wishing to be them."_

_Ed froze and whispered in a horrified tone, "Them?" _

_Truth nodded, cradling them in his hands as if they were small children._

"_Lost souls— Never moving forward, not allowed in any of the gates… always stuck in-between."_

_Truth's white blank eyes now were focused on him, "if you do not find who you are. You too will be a lost soul."_

"_Wha—"_

_Something was pulling at him, tugging with so much force that he almost fell backwards._

_Truth nodded, "it is time for you to return. Do remember our oath."_

"_But—"_

"_Go!" Truth snarled._

_Little hands grabbed ahold of Ed, hungry but not daring to have a taste or they would have to suffer their master's wrath. _

_Ed's vision faded slowly but his eyes did not move from Truth's form. He was looking at the marbles with such sadness and despair, the image was burned into Ed's mind. _

_He guessed even Truth had secrets and emotions. Who would have guessed? _


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi. New chapter. Sorry for the wait. I don't know if I mentioned it in the past chapter but there is a poll on my profile that will decide which story should be my focus and if you want this one to be it well...go vote! Thanks. **

**Disclaimer: From here on, and future chapters I do not own.  
**

* * *

Ed woke to an empty room with sore muscles and a large blanket that was slipping off him by the second.

There wasn't much to say about the room except that it held the one bed, a window and sand walls. Ed deduced that the people here were very planet friendly to use sand instead of wood to build houses.

Hopefully they were the same way towards strangers.

Noticing that his red jacket was missing, Ed looked around and spotted it in a corner. Picking it up, he looked at it with sadness. It was still torn up and dirty but that could be easily fixed. The thing that upset him was the large stain that had freaking come out of nowhere.

"When the F*ck did I have orange juice?" Ed muttered. Even if he did transmute it, the stain would not leave, that was the downside of transmutations and clothes. The cotton and fiber already were soaked and dried, meaning that it would stay that color.

Tossing it to the side, Ed headed towards the door, leaving the leather boots behind.

At least he still had his leather jacket, cotton shirt and leather pants on. Plus no orange juice stains.

Quietly opening the door, Ed regarded the hall outside. Seeing no threats, he took a step out, gasping at the ice cold floor. A pang of nostalgia hit him as Ed realized that his left foot couldn't feel anything.

Ed's footsteps echoed in the hall, his metal foot making a louder clang. The only source of light was the scattered lamps on the walls; they kept flickering on and off, scaring the shadows away to only succumb to them and repeating again.

Ed wondered how it could be so quiet. It was almost deathly silent. Ed walked around, looking for an exit or someone but only finding hallways of hallways.

_The f*cking thing is a maze. _

Ed thought as he pushed open a door, only to freeze.

It was a very large room, a dining room and a kitchen connected together. And at the dining table were people Ed did not know.

Ed stared.

They stared.

"Why don't you come in and eat?" The soft voice came from the woman at the head of the table. She was pretty, a red head and had kind but pained eyes.

The others watched in silence.

Ed took a step back, looking at the occupants of the table with caution. The last time he had passed out and then woken up was at that village.

It could be the same situation. Different people, different prison.

"Don't try to run Blondie or I'll bomb you," the threat sounded from a bleach blonde guy, half the hair covering one of his blue eyes.

Ed gasped as he took another step back. Remembering the guy had mouths coming from his hands.

"Who are you calling Blondie, Deidra?" asked the man—no, he looked like a shark, complete with gills and a blue complexion with beady black eyes.

Deidra cast a glare towards the shark man, "you want me to blast your ass again, Kisame?"

Kisame bared his teeth, light shined off of the sharp tips of them and Deidra held his hand up in warning.

"Stop. The both of you or Pein-sama will hear about this." The woman sternly warned the both of them.

Deidra and Kisame proceeded to glare at each other.

Ed hesitantly took a step forward. "Who are you? Where am I?"

The red head smiled at him, "I'm Konan and you're at the Akatsuki base."

She stared at him expectantly and Ed wondered if he was supposed to know who she was and what Akatsuki meant.

"Umm…well, I'm Edward Elric. Would you mind if you could tell me in what country I am in?"

If that didn't radiate crazy Ed didn't know what did but knowing more about this world was beneficial.

Plus if they thought he was crazy then they would doubt him whenever he sprouted out stuff that was true.

Konan tilted her head, a confused expression on her face. "You do not know where you are?"

Ed shook his head. She sighed, "sit down and eat, you've been ridden with fever for hours."

Ignoring the curious glances from the table, Ed sat in a vacant seat next to Konan. An empty plate was set in front of him and Ed started loading food onto it.

The next couple minutes left everybody staring at Edward.

Ed slurped up the noodles, speaking with a mouth full of food, "What? I'm hungry!"

Konan chuckled at his actions and proceeded to introduce the other people at the table.

"On your left is Itachi Uchiha, he's the one that brought you here. Next to him is Hidan, he's immortal."

Ed choked on his food and stared at the white haired man that looked like a priest. "Immortal?"

Hidan nodded but did not explain further. Konan pointed at Kisame, "That's Kisame, he's a Halfling—"

Then she pointed at Deidra, "that's Deidra, he's the one that wanted to leave you behind."

Deidra crossed his arms as he muttered, "we needed to get the report in as soon as possible, and if we could I would have stayed to blow a cou—"

Ed's chair scrapped the ground as he pushed it out in a hurry and slammed his hands on the table. The others didn't move but Deidra stared in shock as Ed proceeded to yell at him.

"So you were the bastard that kept making the ground shake! I'll have you know it's hard to _walk_, much rather _escape_ prison when the freaking ground won't _stay_ still beneath your feet!"

Kisame laughed at Ed's exclamation, "the little one has spirit!"

Ed growled, "Who are you calling so little that a grain of sand is like a tower compared to him!"

Kisame scratched his head as he looked around, "no one."

Ed sullenly sat back in his chair as the others watched in amusement. Konan patted the top of his head, "the others are out on missions but they'll be back sometime soon. I'll introduce you then."

Then she directed her attention to Deidra, "you're on kitchen duty." Deidra sputtered but shut up as Konan gave him a glare.

She then gave Ed's arm a tug, "let's go Ochibi, time to meet Pein-sama."

Ed followed behind her, all the while wondering what 'Ochibi' meant.

* * *

**I am not sure if I spelled Ochibi right but I'm pretty sure I did. What did you guys think? **


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